Handmade in India

ARANMULA KANNADI - METAL MIRROR
Production Clusters
Pathanamthitta
district:
Aranmula
Products
Traditional:
Cheppukannadi - box
mirror
Kunkumacheppurmirror
attached to a
vermillion container
Vaal kannadi - mirror
with a handle
Contemporary:
Various sized and
shaped mirrors,
usually with stands
Tools
Iron tongs, Files
Hammers, Chisels
Fine emery paper
At Aranmula, a township in the district of
Pathanamthitta, generations of a family of highly
specialized goldsmiths have been using the lost wax
process to cast metal kannadi, mirrors, of an alloy of
copper and tin. This technique was utilized to create
the vaalkannadi or hand held mirrors with cast bronze
frames that were utilized by royalty and in rituals
related to the temple. As opposed to the image
produced in common mercury coated glass mirrors,
the reflection formed in the Aranmula kannadi does
not undergo and refraction. Due to the arduous labour
required in the casting process, a craftsman may make
a maximum of 20 mirrors during a month. The high
costs involved in the craft process cannot be met by
large sections of contemporary market and
consequently, efforts are being made to reduce the
overall pricing of the product - these include the
substitution of the bronze frames with brass ones that
are outsourced rather than made by the mirror maker
himself. The form of the mirror too has been greatly
transformed; the sinous elegance of the vaalkannadi
has ben superceded by flamboyant forms with
pedestals and platforms to allow the mirror to stand
without manual support.
1. Two contemporary kanaddi from Aranmula; the traditional bronze cast
frame has been replcaed with brass frames with stands.
2. Cast metal mirror lined up for polishing.
3. A craftsman polishing the cast metal mirrors by rubbing them vigorously
against soft velvet fabric.
STONE CARVING
Production Clusters
Thrissur district:
Kurukanpara
Palakkad district:
Ottapalam
Ernakulam district:
Paruvur (near Alwaye)
Alappuzha district:
Chengannur
Thiruvananthapuram
district:
Thiruvananthapuram
The stone carving tradition of Kerala is given a unique local character
through its employment of the locally available granite and laterite
rocks believed to have originated in the neighbouring state of Tamil
Nadu. Granite is the widely favoured medium for all stone carved
products, and a specific variety known as krishashila is sourced from
Omalur in Pathanamthitta district and from Tirthala in the south
Malabar, and is reserved for the clulpting of temple idols. Laterite, the
red muddy stone that is abundantly available throughout Kerala, was
widely used to build both domestic structures and temples such as the
Mahadeva temple at Kazhakuttam and the
Vaddakkunathan Temple at Thrissur. Although
soft when quarried, the materials rapidly hardens
on coming into contact with the elements,
forming into a highly durable and strong
construction materials. Further, the stone is
somewhat popous, a phenomeneon that is said to
allow the rock to `breathe` in the humid tropical
heat. Despite its immense suitability to the
climate of Kerala, the use of laterite appears to be
suffering a decline due to the changing aesthatic
of the local populace, who prefer cement as a
building material.
Products
Temple idols
Fence stones
Tombstones
Multitiered lamps
Temple lamps
Naga stones
Stone grinders
Name plates
Tools
Hammer
Chisels